


Milk and Two Sugars

by Razzamatazz



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Bisexual Bucky Barnes, England (Country), Fluff, How Do I Tag, I'm Sorry, M/M, Misunderstandings, My First Fanfic, POV Steve Rogers, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, School, Scottish Bucky, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-16
Updated: 2014-11-20
Packaged: 2018-02-25 14:51:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2625779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Razzamatazz/pseuds/Razzamatazz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>“He’s American?” Bucky looked questioningly at Natasha who shrugged in response. “So Captain America, what do you teach?” Bucky asked, the corner of his mouth tugged up in a crooked grin, his gleaming blue eyes staring into Steve’s making his stomach flutter and a pink tinge creep up his cheeks.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>  <em>“Um… Art.” Bucky snorted derisively, rubbing his hand over his stubbly chin. Steve felt himself blush furiously.<em></em></em></p>
<p>  <em><br/><em>Steve Rogers has moved to England and become an art teacher at a secondary school, where he meets Bucky, the English teacher, who is a bit of a git (at first). Then feelings happen.</em></em><br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fanfic, please forgive me if it's terrible!! Hopefully it will get better, I'm not really sure where this is going. Sorry about the rubbish title, I couldn't think of anything better... Comments, feedback, and advice would be much appreciated!! :)

# Chapter One

Steve Rogers had moved to England three weeks before the start of the school year and his new job as the art teacher at St. Bart’s Secondary School. Those three weeks had been spent doing all the cliché touristy things like visiting the London eye and the various universities and churches that England is famous for. He nearly filled up a whole sketchbook in those first three weeks alone.

By the time the first Monday of term had rolled around Steve was pleased to be going to work. There are only so many museums and National Trust sites you can look at before you start to get bored. He also was starting to feel lonely. He had no friends to talk to, in fact he could count the number of conversations he’s had since coming to England on one hand. 

The weather on that Monday morning was bright and warm, but that didn’t stop Steve from grabbing his coat and umbrella before he left his flat. He had learnt fairly early on about how unpredictable the British weather is, and sure enough as he began to walk to work he felt the first few drops of rain land on his head.  
By the time he entered the school he was drenched, despite his coat and umbrella. He closed his umbrella and peeled off his wet coat as he walked towards reception.

“Hello?” he said to the grey-haired receptionist who was staring intently at a crossword, her brow furrowed.

“Hello,” she replied looking up briefly to give him a quick once-over before going back to frowning at the crossword.

“Um… I’m looking for Miss Potts?” Steve mumbled.

“First door on the right,” she said, not bothering to look up this time.

“Thanks,” Steve muttered as he made his way towards the door marked ‘headmistress’.

He raised his hand to knock on the door, but before his knuckles connected with the wood a voice called “Come in!” from the other side of the door. He dropped his fist and entered the office.

The office was bright and airy with some framed art posters on the wall and a large leafy plant in the corner. There was a small sofa along one wall and some filing cabinets beside it, but the room was dominated by a large wooden desk with some kind of pendulum sculpture swinging repetitively upon it. The woman behind the desk looked bright and immaculate like her office, she didn’t seem particularly intimidating but there was a definite air of authority about her.

“You must be Mr Rogers, the new art teacher,” she said as she stepped out from behind the desk and walked gracefully over to him, her hand extended to shake his.

“That’s right, Miss Potts,” Steve responded as he shook her hand.

“Please, call me Pepper,” she shot him a warm smile and gestured for him to sit down. She resumed her place behind her desk and Steve sat down in the chair opposite her. Pepper gave him the basic rundown of the school and gave him a timetable.

“Let me introduce you to the staff,” Pepper said, leading him out of her office and towards the staffroom.

The staffroom was dark and contained a dirty looking kitchenette, a few tables and chairs, some scruffy sofas, and half a dozen despondent looking teachers. Pepper cleared her throat causing the teachers to look up.

“Everyone, meet Steve Rogers, the new teacher. Steve Rogers, meet everyone,” Pepper announced. A few teachers nodded at him before returning to their comatose state.  
“I’ve got to go and make a phone call so Natasha could you fill Steve in and make sure he finds his classroom?” she asked and left the room without waiting for a response. A fairly short woman, with red hair pulled back into a tight bun wearing painful looking high heels strutted towards him. She gripped him in a firm handshake, he steely green eyes looking down into his blue ones. 

“I’m Natasha Romanov, the French teacher,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Steve Rogers, the art teacher,” Natasha smiled slightly.

“So Steve, allow me to fill you in,” she pointed towards a nervous looking man in a purple shirt. “That’s Dr Bruce Banner, he deals with all the sciencey stuff. That’s Clint Barton,” she gestured to a man slumped over a desk with a mug of coffee clutched in his hands. “He teaches PE, don’t even bother trying to talk to him before 10am,” she continued to introduce the rest of the staff. “That’s Sam Wilson, he teaches religious education and is probably the least judgemental person you will ever meet. Over there is Tony Stark, he teaches maths, he’s a genius and he knows it, totally self-obsessed. He also has an on and off thing with the headmistress. Thor Odinson is the history teacher, he likes to spend his free time re-enacting wars and shit.” As she said that a wet, bedraggled looking man stormed into the room, his long brown hair plastered to his face.

“Did you forget your umbrella again?” Natasha smirked raising an eyebrow mockingly.

“Piss off,” the man grumbled in a Scottish accent, scowling at her. “Who’s this?” He asked gesturing towards Steve as he scraped his dripping hair into a bun.

“This is Steve Rogers, the new teacher,” Natasha informed him.

“James Barnes, but everybody calls me Bucky, I teach English.”

“Nice to meet you,” Steve said, nodding curtly.

“He’s American?” Bucky looked questioningly at Natasha who shrugged in response. “So Captain America, what do you teach?” Bucky asked, the corner of his mouth tugged up in a crooked grin, his gleaming blue eyes staring into Steve’s making his stomach flutter and a pink tinge creep up his cheeks.

“Um… Art.” Bucky snorted derisively, rubbing his hand over his stubbly chin. Steve felt himself blush furiously.

“James, stop teasing him,” Natasha instructed. Bucky smirked.

“Little punk knows I’m just joking,” Bucky ruffled Steve’s hair. Steve flinched away from him. “Alright, calm down Cap,” Bucky said, eyebrows raised.

“I’ll show you your classroom,” Natasha said hurriedly steering Steve out of the room as she glared threateningly at Bucky over her shoulder. “Pay no attention to him,” she said as they walked down the corridor. “He’s a great bloke really, he just likes to wind up the new guys.”

They entered the classroom and Steve breathed in the comforting art room smell.

“Lessons start at nine, lunch is at twelve, you can eat in here or the staffroom. Seems you’ve got Year 8 first thing,” Natasha said, looking over Steve’s shoulder at his timetable. “Talk about a baptism by fire.”

With that she left him in the classroom to prepare for his first lesson. He sank down into his desk chair and sighed, wondering if this job had been a good idea after all. 

\- - - - - - - - - -

Steve had made it through his first lesson. It hadn’t been as bad as he’d feared. The class were pretty rowdy and tried to see how far they could push the new teacher and get away with it. But he soon got them calm by promising to put some music on if they quietened down.

He had set them the task of decorating the front page of their sketchbooks, making sure that they incorporated their name and the things that represent them, using any media they wanted. As he walked around he admired the work in the open sketchbooks on the tables. Some of them were pretty good. He was especially interested with a girl called Claire’s work. She had filled the page with paintings of records, books, and a man in a superhero suit holding a round shield with a star on it. Steve loved seeing every pupil’s individualism, seeing their potential, it reminded him of why he became a teacher. He started to clear away the paint and wash up, humming along to the radio still playing in the background.

“Hey,” the Scottish accent cut through the quiet music, startling Steve causing him to spill paint down his trouser leg. 

“Hi,” Steve said as he scrubbed at his jeans furiously.

“Uh sorry about startling you,” Bucky apologised as he moved from leaning on the doorframe into the classroom.

“It’s fine, these are old anyway,” Having gotten the worst out Steve looked up to give Bucky a reassuring grin.

“It’s break time so I thought you might like a cup of tea, but then I wasn’t sure if you liked tea being American and all. So then I thought you might like a cup of coffee but I don’t know if you like that either and most people I know are fairly fussy about how they take their coffee. So in the end I just got you some water,” Bucky walked towards him holding out the glass of water.

“Thanks,” Steve chuckled as Bucky handed him the glass and he took a small sip. Bucky walked towards the tables and peered closely at the sketchbooks, his hands clasped behind his back. “I’m gonna grab a quick smoke before break ends, want to come with?”

“Sure,” Steve shrugged and put the glass on the side. He didn’t have a lesson next so he could tidy up later. Steve held the door open and Bucky led him down the corridor and outside to a small wall. There was a gaggle of 15 year olds sitting on and around the wall gossiping about some party that had happened in the summer holiday.

“Come on guys, you know you’re not meant to be back here, shift it,” the kids sighed and reluctantly slid off the wall and walked away grumbling. Bucky jumped up onto the wall taking their place and patted the bricks beside him as he fished his roll-ups out of his pocket. Steve hoisted himself up beside Bucky and watched as he expertly rolled his cigarette in his slender fingers. He offered the cigarette to Steve but he declined. Bucky lit the cigarette and took a long drag. They sat in silence for a while before Bucky spoke.

“You look freezing,” Bucky said, noticing the way Steve was shivering. “Here, take my jacket.” 

“No, it’s fin-” Steve began to protest but Bucky had already shrugged off his leather jacket and draped it across Steve’s shoulders. The jacket dwarfed Steve, but it was warm and smelt of Bucky and caused his shivering to lessen.

“Sorry about this morning, apparently I was rude so yeah, sorry,” Bucky stared down at his feet clad in heavy boots, absentmindedly kicking against the wall, making him look like a five year old.

“That’s okay. I forgive you for being a jerk to me on my first day of work in a foreign country.”

“Punk,” Bucky muttered. Steve laughed then choked on Bucky’s smoke sending him into a violent coughing fit. Bucky looked concerned and hit him on the back so Steve nearly fell off the wall. Steve held up a hand to Bucky as he took out his inhaler and puffed on it a few times before he returned to breathing fairly normally. “You alright?” 

“I’m fine, just asthma,” Steve wheezed. He looked down at his watch. “You’re gonna be late for your lesson,” Bucky jumped off the wall and put out his cigarette. 

“I’d better be off then, I’ll see you around,” Bucky began to walk back towards the school pushing a strand of loose hair behind his ear.

“I take my tea with milk and two sugars by the way,” Steve called after him and saw Bucky chuckle as he walked away shaking his head.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky and Steve go to the cinema, but there is a bit of a misunderstanding...
> 
> (FYI: There's a little bit of sexual stuff in the chapter)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the positive response on the last chapter!  
> Comments, advice and construct criticism much appreciated! :)

# Chapter Two

Steve honestly didn’t intend to keep Bucky’s jacket for over a month, it was just so freaking warm and smelt so good. Eventually the smell started to fade and Steve figured he ought to give the jacket back.

His first few weeks at St. Bart’s had been a blur. He got on well with the staff and had become strong friends with Sam, Natasha, Clint, and of course Bucky. Every morning he would go running with Sam, despite Sam almost lapping him, afterwards they would have coffee at a café and talk about the meaning of life. He was teaching Natasha how to paint and in return she was teaching him French, he wasn’t particularly interested in learning French but she had insisted since Steve refused to take her money. He met up with Clint every Wednesday night to play video games. He chatted with Bucky during breaks or lunch while Bucky smoked like a chimney. He’d even gone to one of Thor’s historical re-enactments. Then every Friday night the staff would go out together for a drink. Steve was feeling pretty happy with his life.

He thought about this as he knocked on the door to Bucky’s classroom, the leather jacket clutched in his hand. Steve opened the door to see Bucky stretching up, revealing a bit of his toned stomach, as he tried to stick up a poster of Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. Steve looked down at his feet quickly, willing himself not to blush. Bucky finished putting up the poster and looked over at Steve.

“Hey Cap,” Bucky said with that crooked smile that made Steve’s brain stop functioning for a few seconds. “What brings you to my neck of the woods?”

“I came to return your jacket,” Steve said holding the jacket out to Bucky. “Sorry I didn’t return it sooner, I meant to but I just kept on for-”

“Thanks punk,” Bucky cut off Steve’s bumbling and took the jacket from Steve’s outstretched hand.

“Jerk,” Steve retorted, smiling. Steve looked around the classroom. “What’s with all the posters?” He asked gesturing towards the walls covered in sheets of A4 paper.

“Oh it’s like a project. Every few weeks I’ll ask a student to make a poster of one of their favourite authors with their favourite quote on it.”

“Is yours up here?” Steve walked around the classroom, looking at the different authors and reading their quotes.

“See if you can guess.”

“Hmmm… Stephenie Meyer?” Steve winked at Bucky over his shoulder, Bucky rolled his eyes at him.

“Okay, two more guesses.”

“George Orwell?”

“Nope, last chance punk.”

“Okay,” Steve spent longer choosing this time. “J.R.R. Tolkien?”

“Close, but no cigar,” Bucky grinned smugly and pointed at a poster with a black and white photo on it. The quote read ‘I promise I shall never give up, and that I'll die yelling and laughing’

“Jack Kerouac?”

“Yep, my English teacher when I was growing up introduced me to him and I became obsessed with the Beat Generation and 1950s literature,” Steve nodded slowly.

“’Maybe our favourite quotations say more about us than about the stories and people we're quoting.’ John Green,” Steve said pointing towards another poster. Bucky’s face broke into a brilliant smile.

“I was going to go to the cinema with Clint tonight but he bailed on me, want to come with?” Steve tried not to grin from ear to ear.

“What film?”

“Some superhero thing, I think it’s called the Avengers.”

“Sounds good,” Steve smiled up at Bucky.

“Great! I’ll pick you up around seven?”

“Cool,” Steve stood there for a while grinning like a fool up at Bucky. The sound of the school bell brought him back to reality. “I should better go and prepare for my next lesson.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Okay, see you at seven,” Steve walked back to his classroom beaming. 

 

\- - - - - - - - -

 

Steve spent an embarrassing amount of time getting ready for his… was it a date? Whatever it was, it had Steve in a minor panic. Eventually he settled on a pair of dark jeans and his favourite blue shirt. Once he was ready he sat awkwardly on the sofa waiting for Bucky. The knock at the door made him jump and he quickly stood up and checked his appearance in the mirror before answering the door. Bucky looked breath-taking, his hair falling in loose curls down to his shoulders and he was wearing his leather jacket over a dark V-necked sweater. As Steve looked dumbfounded at the sight in front of him he noticed a glint on Bucky’s lower lip and his jaw nearly hit the floor.

“Is… is that a lip ring?” Steve asked. “I didn’t know you had your lip pierced.” 

“Um… yeah, they don’t let me wear it at school. I can take it out if it makes you feel uncomfortable,” Bucky said reaching up for his lip.

“No no, it’s fine, I like it.”

“Okay,” Bucky smiled, a look of relief flooding over his face. “Ready to go?”

“Yep,” Steve said, he grabbed his keys off the side and left the apartment, locking the door behind him.

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

Steve enjoyed the movie more than he thought he would. He wasn’t really paying too much attention to the movie though, he was focusing more on Bucky’s arm around his bony shoulders.

They left the cinema holding hands and walked to Bucky’s car. They got in and Bucky turned on the radio, then proceeded to talk over it. By the time Steve got home Bucky had managed to give him a brief history of everything Marvel. Steve tried to listen to what Bucky was saying, he really did. But he kept on getting distracted by the way Bucky’s eyes lit up when he talked about something he was passionate about, his enthusiasm causing him to trip over his words, and the way he would throw his hand up in the air when he was describing something that annoyed him.

Bucky pulled up outside the block of flats where Steve lived and killed the engine.

“So that’s why I prefer Marvel to DC,” Steve pulled himself out of his trance realising that Bucky probably wanted some kind of response. Steve couldn’t think of anything to say to this so he just nodded. 

“I’ve had a really great time, Bucky,” Steve said looking longingly into Bucky’s eyes. ‘Screw it’ he thought and leaned in to brush his lips softly against Bucky’s as he cupped the back of his neck. He was about to pull away when Bucky started to tenderly kiss him back. It was a shy, gentle kiss and, in Steve’s opinion, one hundred percent perfect. They eventually broke apart and pressed their foreheads together.

“I’m so glad that Clint couldn’t make it,” Bucky said breathily, Steve let out a shaky laugh.

“Do you want to come in for a coffee or something?” Steve asked.

“I’d love to.”

They ambled into Steve’s flat, Steve shut the door behind them and turned around to face Bucky. Before Steve could say anything Bucky’s lips were pressed against him, more passionately this time, Bucky’s arms either side of Steve as he supported himself against the door. Steve gasped in surprise. Bucky took this as encouragement and tugged on Steve’s bottom lip with his teeth, his lip ring brushing against Steve’s skin. Bucky took his hand off of the door and began to run it over Steve’s body until he dipped below the top of his jeans. Steve pulled away from him.

“Um… B...Bucky, w-what are you doing?” Bucky looked down into the blonde’s confused eyes.

“Fuck… By coffee I thought you meant… ah shit. Sorry Steve, I shouldn’t have assumed…” 

“No, it’s fine, it’s an understandable mistake,” Steve said, his voice shaking as he reached into his pocket to pull out his inhaler and take a deep breath.

“No, I’m sorry, look I’ll just go, see you on Monday,” Bucky ran out the door before Steve could say another word. Steve was left in his flat feeling flustered, confused, and considerably aroused.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Oh my God guys! Stop being so fucking awkward!” Natasha threw her hands up in frustration. “Look, I’m going to my martial arts class and I’m locking the door behind me. You guys are going to sort out this shit between you while I’m out, and you are not leaving this flat until you kiss and make up,”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so overwhelmed by all the people who have left kudos on this work and all the positive feedback. I really appreciate it!!  
> I hope you like reading this as much as I like writing it! Please leave advice, feedback, constructive criticism etc. :)

# Chapter 3

 

Steve spent the whole weekend mulling over the events of his sort of date with Bucky. By Monday he had pretty much figured out what he was going to say to Bucky when he saw him. He would explain that he was sorry if he led him on and he did like him, he just wanted to take things a little slower, that was, if Bucky was still interested. 

Steve never did get the chance to say those things though. He’d been psyching himself up all through his first lesson, expecting Bucky to come and see him in break, but he didn’t show. Steve tried not to be disappointed, it wasn’t like he always saw him in break, a lot of the time Bucky had to prepare for his next lesson so he would skip his smoke entirely.  
Bucky wasn’t in the staffroom that lunchtime. Steve thought about checking his classroom but he figured if Bucky wasn’t having lunch in the staffroom then he was probably doing some marking and wouldn’t want to be disturbed. Come to think of it, the only time Steve saw him that day was at the end of the day when he caught a glimpse of him walking hurriedly over to his car.

This went on for the rest of the week. Whenever Steve would enter the staffroom Bucky would suddenly go quiet and look anywhere but at Steve. Bucky had only actually spoken to him once that week. He had turned up in the art room and stood awkwardly by the door, then cleared his throat to draw Steve’s attention. Steve looked over at him and smiled weakly, but Bucky didn’t see because he was too busy examining a spot on the wall just to the left of Steve’s head.

“Uh… Could I borrow your stapler?” Bucky had asked, his gaze dropping to the floor.

“Yeah, sure,” Steve said. He pulled the stapler out of a cupboard and passed it to Bucky who took it, still not looking him in the face. 

“Thanks,” Bucky mumbled and shuffled quickly out of the classroom. When Steve had come in the next day he’d found his stapler on his desk, Bucky had clearly wanted to avoid any and all conversation with Steve.

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

Steve was thankful for the staff get-together on Friday, he felt like he could use a drink and was fed-up of spending evenings in his quiet flat. Normally he would just sip at a beer or not drink at all but instead just get buzzed off of everyone else’s high. But this night he ended up getting fairly pissed, which didn’t take a lot seeing as he was only about 90lbs and a total lightweight. 

He and Sam didn’t have any lessons last thing on a Friday, so they had headed down to the pub early to get a few drinks in before everyone else arrived. By the time Natasha and Clint arrived it was fair to say that Steve was more than a little bit tipsy. 

“Natasha! Hey Nat!” Steve called when he saw them across the dingy room. He stood up and waved madly, spilling what was left of his beer down himself. “Whoops!” Steve laughed then stumbled over to the bar to get himself another drink.

“What’s up with Steve? He doesn’t normally drink,” Natasha asked when she got over to Sam.

“I have no idea, I tried to ask him but he just changed the subject.”

“Maybe he’s just decided to let go a bit,” Clint suggested. They looked over at Steve worriedly who was clinging onto the bar for support while wailing along to Viva la Vida playing in the background. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it out of him,” Natasha strode over to Steve. “It might be a good idea if you sat down,” she said to Steve noticing the way that he swayed unstably on his feet. Steve shrugged, still belting out the song, and slid onto a bar stool, Natasha took the one next to him. 

“You alright Steve?” Natasha asked.

“I’m on top of the world!” Steve replied grinning like a crazy person, then continued singing. Bucky walked into the pub, Steve looked over and stopped singing abruptly when he saw Bucky, then swivelled in his seat to face the bar again and stare into his beer. Natasha’s eyes darted between Bucky and Steve and she made the connection.

“Has something happened between you and Bucky? You guys have barely talked to each other this week,” Steve shrugged still looking into his beer, but his face was turning a delicate shade of pink.

“It’s nothing.”

“Is it about last Friday?” Steve looked up at her, his baby blue eyes wide. “Bucky told me what happened.”

“I dunno,” Steve sighed. “Bucky’s just not talking to me,” he looked over at Bucky who was drinking heavily and laughing too loudly at an unfunny joke Thor had made.  
“He probably just got fed up of me, most people do,” Steve slurred as he swayed unsteadily on the barstool. “I don’t blame him, God knows I get fed up with myself most of the time!” Steve snorted and a trail of slime shot out of his nose which he wiped away with the back of his hand. “Oops,” Natasha looked at him with one of her complicated stares that he was too drunk to read. 

“The thing is Nat, I like Bucky, I mean _really_ like him. Can I let you in on a secret?” Natasha didn’t respond so Steve took that as an affirmative. “I’ve never actually liked a guy in this way before. I mean I’ve always been kinda curious I guess but I just wanna take things slow with Bucky. I don’t think I’ll be taking things anywhere though, I think I’ve blown it Nat,” Steve sat there looking lost and dejected.

“You know, that’s exactly what Bucky said to me last Saturday,” Natasha said. Steve raised his head, a look of revelation dawning on his face.

“I want pizza!” Natasha sighed and shook her head wearily. 

“Fine, let’s go and get pizza,” Natasha had to half carry Steve out of the bar and over to her car.

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

Steve was rudely awoken on the Saturday morning by a smug bird making a racket outside the window. Steve groaned burying his head in the pillow, trying to block out the light and crawl back into his dreams. His head was killing him. Realising he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep he grudgingly opened his eyes. 

“Morning,” Natasha said smugly and far too loudly for Steve’s liking, putting a cup of tea and a couple of paracetamols on the table.

“Shut up. I’m dying,” Steve said, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand and looking around the room. “Did I sleep on your couch?”

“Yep.”

“Sorry,” Steve sat up too quickly making his head throb even harder.

“That’s okay, somebody had to make sure you didn’t choke and die on your own vomit,” Natasha smiled at him cheerfully. 

“Thanks,” Steve took the paracetamol from the table and washed them down with a gulp of tea. There was an urgent knock at the door, Natasha smiled at Steve and walked over to the door. Natasha seemed to be smiling an awful lot, it was making Steve feel nervous. It turned out that Steve had a right to feel nervous as Natasha opened the door to reveal Bucky’s lean figure. He probably looked almost as bad as Steve felt, his hair was a total uncombed mess, there were dark circles round his eyes, and his face was pale with a sickly looking green tinge.

He strode into Natasha’s flat looking worried, he hadn’t noticed Steve curled up on the sofa whose blonde hair sticking up on one side and his eyes were full of sleep.

“What’s the emergency?” a concerned Bucky asked turning towards Natasha who was leaning against the closed door, almost as if to prevent his escape. She looked pointedly at the sofa. Bucky followed her gaze and his face turned from green to red faster than a set of traffic lights. “Oh… hi.”

“Hey.”

“Oh my God guys! Stop being so fucking awkward!” Natasha threw her hands up in frustration. “Look, I’m going to my martial arts class and I’m locking the door behind me. You guys are going to sort out this shit between you while I’m out, and you are not leaving this flat until you kiss and make up,” Natasha grabbed her kit bag and hurriedly left the flat, they heard the key scrape against the lock and Bucky turned back around to face Steve. They stood there in an awkward silence for a few minutes.

“Do you want a cup of tea?” Steve asked walking towards the kitchen.

“Yeah, thanks,” Bucky followed him into the kitchen where Steve had put the kettle on and was raiding the kitchen looking for the teabags. Bucky opened a cupboard and pulled out a spotty pot containing teabags and a stripy pot filled with sugar. He put these down on the counter in front of Steve. “Do you want some biscuits? Natasha usually hides some in the cupboard under the sink,” without waiting for an answer Bucky pulled out a pack of custard creams from under the sink.

“How did you…?”

“Me and Natasha had a thing a while ago,” Steve nodded pouring milk into two mugs. The kettle boiled and Steve poured the water into the mugs and put the teabags in. **“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!”** Bucky yelled making Steve nearly drop the kettle.

“What?”

“Don’t you know how to make a cup of tea?”

“Um… I…” Steve looked puzzled up at Bucky.

“You have destroyed something sacred that stands for everything good and holy. Pour that down the sink, let me show you how to make it,” Steve obliged and tipped the contents of the mugs down the sink then put the teabags in the bin. “First you put in the teabags, then the water,” Bucky put fresh teabags into the mugs then took the kettle out of Steve’s hand and poured the water into the mugs. 

Steve let Bucky get on with making the tea and set out a few custard creams on a plate. Bucky carried the mugs of tea into the living room and Steve followed with the plate of custard creams.

“This is probably the best cup of tea I’ve ever had,” Steve gasped after he took his first gulp, his eyes wide staring slack jawed at Bucky.

“I’m not surprised having seen your idea of tea!” Steve dug his bony elbow into Bucky’s ribs and they both dissolved into fits of laughter. 

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

Natasha came back an hour later to find Steve and Bucky curled up together on the sofa watching Doctor Who. 

“I knew you guys would work it out,” she said smiling like the cat that got the cream as she walked past them into the kitchen. 

“Yeah, yeah, no need to look so smug,” Bucky called after her as he rubbed his cheek on the top of Steve’s head. Natasha laughed, and then came a scream of pure rage. 

**“WHO HAS EATEN MY MOTHERFUCKING CUSTARD CREAMS?!”**


End file.
